The race was wide open because Sid Ganis, president for the past four years, was ineligible for re-election under Academy rules. Ganis now assumes the title of immediate past president — meaning he serves on the exec committee and remains a resource for the org.

Under AMPAS tradition, various board members had let it be known they were interested in the presidency, but there is no formal declaring of candidacy.

Sherak is beginning his seventh year as a governor, repping the executives branch; in the past year, he served as treasurer.

In the past, AMPAS announced the president on the morning following the board meet. However, in the age of Twitter, execs decided it made more sense to send out the release Tuesday night.

Acad president is not usually a full-time position, but each of the past prexies have tailored their time commitment to the org depending on their various schedules. The president chairs board meetings, has a hand in Oscar-related activities (including securing the Oscarcast producer), is a member of all Academy committees and sits in on as many meetings as time allows as the panels deal with various Acad functions (the library, scholarships, film preservation, et al.)

Like Ganis, Robert Rehme held the post of first veepee for four consecutive years. According to Acad rules, a person can be elected to a maximum of four consecutive terms. Down the road, Ganis and Rehme would be eligible to run again for those posts (or any other), since the rules only forbid more than four consecutive years.